Public transport fares raised unilaterally

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Crews on public transport vehicles have unilaterally raised their fares following the 29 percent fuel price hike on Tuesday, despite the fact that the city administration has yet to make a decision on the issue.

"The bus crew asked me to pay Rp 1,500, higher than the previous tariff of Rp 1,200," said Wardah, a resident of Pondok Kopi, referring to the crew of a Metromini bus plying the route between Pondok Kopi and Kampung Melayu, in East Jakarta.

Passengers on a Mikrolet M-16 van from Kampung Melayu to Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta also complained that they had to dig deeper into their pockets, being forced to pay Rp 2,000, an increase of Rp 500.

Drivers of Patas AC 73 buses plying the Kampung Rambutan- Ciledug route, Patas AC 48 buses serving the Depok-Grogol route, Metrominis plying the Lebak Bulus-Pondok Cabe route, and Metrominis serving the Kebayoran Lama-Ciputat line, had reportedly all raised their fares.

Head of the traffic monitoring division at the City Transportation Agency Henda Sunugroho admitted that his agency had spotted several public transportation crews who had unlawfully increased their fares.

"We caught them posting stickers on their vehicles notifying passengers of new fares. But, they (the crews) claimed that passengers were still paying the prevailing fares," Henda told The Jakarta Post.

Henda said that the agency had also set up 'complaint posts' at bus terminals across the city and main roads, including Jl. Jend. Sudirman in South Jakarta and Jl. May. Gen. Sutoyo in Cawang, East Jakarta.

"Passengers can lodge complaints about unlawful fare hikes imposed by public transport crews to our officers at the posts," said Henda, adding that the posts would be open till 10 p.m. every day until the administration officially announced new fares.

Chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Public Transport Owners Association (Organda Jakarta) Herry JC Rotty said that the association had been assigned by the City administration and the Jakarta Transportation Council to calculate the impact of the fuel prices hikes on public transportation costs.

"We are expecting to come up with results next week. These will then be submitted to the City Transportation Agency, which will pass it on to the City Transportation Council for further deliberation, before the administration eventually announces new tariffs," Herry told the Post.

Herry said the association would in all likelihood be sticking to the 10 percent increase they had proposed on Tuesday.

Commenting on reports that public transport crews were unilaterally increasing their tariffs, he claimed that the association and the City Transportation Agency were cooperating to intensify monitoring and that stern sanctions would be imposed on public transport operators who engaged in such practices.

Meanwhile, City Transportation Council chairman Sutanto Soehodho promised that the council would listen to both public transport operators and passengers in its deliberations.

"We will come up with a recommendation on what increase would be reasonable in accordance with input we receive from the public," Sutanto said.

Although the 15-member council supposedly represents all interests in the community, the final decision on the new tariffs will be in the hands of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.